Pittsfield Council to Tackle Small-Business Funding, Committee ChangeBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
02:53PM / Monday, February 12, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council will tackle requests for a small-business fund allocation and a reassignment of the finance subcommittee chair on Tuesday.
Mayor Peter Marchetti requested that $500,000 be transferred from the city's Economic Development Fund to the Small Business Fund, established in 2012.
The fund supports small businesses that "serve as the backbone of Pittsfield's economy," Marchetti wrote, by providing loans to existing small businesses that are unable to get funding from commercial sources or where commercial funding does not meet needs.
In its 12 years it has assisted seven businesses, created 34 jobs, and preserved 84 jobs, the mayor reported.
"With your support, we will be able to assist more small businesses with technical assistance, working capital and capital investments," Marchetti wrote.
"Funding can also be combined with other business assistance provided directly by the city or through the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation (PERC.)"
Last month, the council accepted a payment of $8,000,000 from General Electric Corp. per the Rest of River settlement agreement on the cleanup of the Housatonic River. The funds will be put into the city's Economic Development Fund which supports growing businesses in the community.
In February 2020, the Rest of River settlement agreement that outlines the continued cleanup of the Housatonic River from Pittsfield to the Connecticut border was signed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, General Electric, the state, the city of Pittsfield, the towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield, and other interested parties.
As part of the agreement, GE was to give $8 million to the city. Formerly called the GE Fund, the account was established in 2000 with $10 million from GE as part of the consent decree for the cleanup of the company's Pittsfield facility and surrounding areas. It also created the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority and conveyed what is now the William Stanley Business Park to the city.
The council will also be presented with changes to the finance subcommittee that places Councilor at Large Earl Persip III as chair and Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso as vice chair.
Amuso, who also decided to resign from the School Building Needs Commission, explained that it "really just comes down to time management," being respectful of her time with her family and concentrating on the areas that she was elected focus on.
She will still serve on the Finance Committee and the Licensing Board.
"I feel going forward I need to be respectful of my time," she said. "And at this point, I'm focusing on the City Council in the subcommittee meetings and I'm also on the Licensing Board."
Amuso's resignation was announced last week at the School Building Needs Commission meeting. She was on the commission for about 18 years, co-chairing for 16 of them.
When asked about the path forward for Pittsfield Public Schools, she said they are really looking at the elementary schools and that is the right area to focus on. She added that the first statement of interest in the 2000s was for Crosby Elementary School, as the commission thought it was important to redo the building.
Amuso asked that a series of Taconic High School's maintenance needs be placed on the agenda for last week, including nonfunctional air conditioning and sewer backups — which Director of Maintenance Brian Filiault attributed to students flushing vapes down the toilets.
"I think it's six years old now. It stuns me when I say that," she said.
"But we have to pay attention to that and let's keep that building where it should be. We made a very important decision and we struggled with it because it was expensive to put the air conditioning in and we did it because it was the right thing to do for the students and staff and so it needs to be fixed."
Filiault explained that an electrical engineer is being brought in the assess voltage issues in the air conditioning system and rule out other causes before the investment is made in it.
Additionally, the council on Tuesday will see a presentation of the quarterly American Rescue Plan Act funds and a presentation from Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. on its annual review.
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